Senate 'secret session' discusses Holt video

The Student Government Senate went into executive session at its last meeting of the year to discuss public perception of the Senate, in particular discussing a widely circulated video of a prank played on Vice President Ryan Holt.

No record was made of the session, and no senators could talk about it afterward. During the session, SG President Tommy Preston said a member of the Board of Trustees contacted him and expressed concern about SG.

"The most important thing in this office is professionalism," Preston said. He said he and Holt had gotten comments about the video and the general attitude of the senators, which some have described as "rambunctious."

The video, originally posted on Chase Stoudenmire's Web site, soon spread to CollegeHumor and is now posted on YouTube, where it has been viewed more than 7,760 times. It shows several senators and other students associated with SG filling Holt's office with balloons. Stoudenmire, a second-year history student, named the video "Ragin' Ryan."

Holt said he now finds the prank funny, although he doesn't find the video's popularity as amusing. He declined to comment on whether he had anything to do with the video being taken down from Stoudenmire's site last week, but in today's executive session Preston said Holt and others were the reason the video was taken off CollegeHumor. He encouraged students to tell others who had the video to stop sharing it.

Preston said after the meeting went back into regular session, Senators should not talk about the video.

Before the supposed-to-be-secret session, senators passed a resolution supporting the USC debate team. College of Arts and Sciences Dean Mary Ann Fitzpatrick suspended funding for the team for one year because of the small student involvement and lack of coach, she said last week.

The resolution said former coach Alan Tauber, who planned to stop coaching the team to pursue a doctoral degree, offered last week to give up his position as a speech professor to coach the team again. He is currently in talks with English department chair Steve Lynn.

The resolution "highly encouraged" Fitzpatrick to give the team the $80,000 necessary for funding. Carole Muedder, a first-year international studies student and member of the debate team, co-sponsored the resolution. She said the reason so few students compete nationally is because the team doesn't want to waste money on sending teams that wouldn't place nationally, but the team will be bigger next year because of students transferring to be on the team.

Debate team members and Tauber organized a letter-writing campaign, urging members of the national debate community to send letters or e-mails to President Andrew Sorensen and Fitzpatrick showing their support for the team.

Third-year political science and Spanish student Maggie Brock, a three-year veteran of the team, said the team is "thrilled by the support we are receiving."

While Senate resolutions are normally sent to Sorensen and The Gamecock newspaper, this resolution will also be sent to The State, The Greenville News, the (Charleston) Post and Courier.

A judicial branch of student government began in earnest today, as the Senate confirmed its new Chief Justice, Andrew Collins. Collins, a second-year education student, served as Minority Affairs Committee chair last year, has served on CSJC and was a justice in a model United Nations program in Cairo, Egypt, where he is from.

Chairs of the Powers and Responsibilities and Judiciary Committees spoke highly of Collins, as did Holt and Preston.

"This is one of the few men who look better in a suit than I do," Holt said as Collins took the floor for questioning. No Senators asked him any questions or challenged his ability to be Chief Justice.

"He is fair and just," said John Rabon, Judiciary committee chair and a third-year political science student. "He is willing to waive any bias."

Preston called Collins "one of the most fair-minded, honest and hard-working" people he knew, and said Collins will "move the branch in the right direction."

"Today is a historic day," Preston said of the beginning of the judiciary branch. Further members of the constitutional council will be named soon. Collins said he will begin working immediately; his first step will be to work with the legislative and executive branches to create a structure for his branch.

Once up and running, the council will review presidential actions and Senate bills, Collins said. He said the big question they will ask is, "Are student rights being upheld?"

The Minority Affairs Committee's planned forum on minority relations at USC was cancelled because other minority organizations were not participating because the forum, planned for Thursday night, came at the end of the year when people are stressed and studying. Clean Carolina was also cancelled for Wednesday because of the weather. The campaign will resume next year, said Danielle Vegas, an education graduate student and student services committee chair.

The Senate also passed a bill preventing students from campaigning at off-campus apartment complexes without permission from the complex manager. This was partially in response to this year's election scandal when Treasurer candidate Jennifer Guest called for a second run-off because candidate Brad Setzler campaigned at several Columbia apartment complexes. Guest won the run-off by just 12 votes.